Over-the-shoulder garment carrier

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes an over-the-shoulder garment carrier comprising a garment bag, a flexible handle comprising an elongated loop and an end portion or linking piece which is secured to said garment bag, the flexible handle carrying a first loop adapted for carrying the hook end portion of a conventional suit hanger, such that the weight of the garments are supported primarily by the first loop rather than by the end portion of the flexible handle, said flexible handle additionally carrying a lock strap, said lock strap having a first end portion secured to the flexible handle at a point between the first loop and the garment bag such that the lock strap, when formed into a second loop, extends generally at a right angle to the longitudinal dimension of the flexible handle whereby the second loop prevents the hook end portion of a conventional suit hanger, which inadvertently has become detached from the first loop, from slipping into the garment bag.

United States Patent 72 Inventor RobertA.Brilhart 315 3rd St.,Huntington Beach, Calif. 92648- '[2l] AppLNo. 38,932

22 Filed May 20.1910 451 Patented oa.12,1971

s41 OVER-THE-SHOULDER GARMENTCARRIER 6 Claims. 3 Drawing Figs.

s21 u.s.fl zoo/1n. 224/45T 511 lnt.Cl A45c7l00 so rm olSearch 224/45 R,45.17; 206/7 H [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,l86.2091/1940 Roth 2l6/7H 2,629,529 2/1953 Threeton... 224/45T PrimaryExaminer-Gerald M. Forienza Assistant Examinen-Lawrencc': J. OreskyAttorney-4. Morley Drucker. Esq.

ditionally carrying aioclt strap. said lock strap having a first endportion'secured to the flexible handle at a point between the first loopand the garment bag such that the lock strap. when formed into a secondloop, extends generally at a right angleto the longitudinal dimension ofthe;flexible handle whereby the second loop prevents the hook endportion of a conventional suit hanger, which inadvertently has becomedetached from the first loop. from slipping into the garment bag. a

PATENTEDncnzmn I "3,622,260

fjd I v INVIiN'IUR. 2055/27- 4. 80/4 #427 OVER-THE-SHOULDER GARMENTCARRIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present.invention relates to anover -the-shoulder gar ment carrier. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to an over-the-shoulder garment carrier having meansto appropriately distribute load and to prevent hanger slippage.

Many types of garment carriers are known in the art. Galazin U. S. Pat.No. 3.362.599 describes an over-theshoulder garment carrier which has anelongated strap for suporting such a carrier. The carrierin Galazindescribes multile slots or loops for carrying garment hangers. whichslots or oops act to distribute the weight longitudinally along the baseof the carrier. The present invention. on the other hand. provides anover-the-shoulder garment carrier having means for carrying the weightof the garments such that tension on the linking piece which connectsthe handle portion to the garment bag is substantially reduced therebyextending the life of the garment carrier. The present invention alsocontemplates an over-the-shoulder garment carrier having means forpreventing inadvertently detached garment hangers from slipping into thegarment bag.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to anover-the-shoulder garment carrier comprising;

A. a garment bag; 7

B. a flexible handle comprising an elongated loop and a linking piece.the linking piece being secured to the garment C. the flexible handlecarrying a first loop adapted for carry the lock strap. when formed intoasecond loop. extends generally at a right angle to the longitudinaldimension of the flexible handle whereby the second loop prevents thehook end portion ofa conventional suit hanger. which has inadvertentlybecome detached from the first loop. from slipping into the garment bag.

'. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a front view. inelevation. of the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view. in elevation. and partially in section. of thepreferred embodiment. g

FIG. 3 Is a sectional view taken at line 3-3 ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. I describes a garmentcarrier I comprising a garment ag II adapted for storage of suits.coats. etc. which are car- Rd by aconventional garment hanger. the hookportion of which is shown at I8. Access to the inside of the garment bag1 1 is provided by zipper opening means I2.

Referring now to FIG. 2. the carrying strap for garment carrier I0 isgenerally denoted by the numeral 14 and comprises a single elongated.reinforced piece of flexible material folded upon itself and secured bystitching 24 in such a way as to form a carrying loop I5 and a smallergarment hanger loop I6. The end portion or linking piece 2I of carryingstrap 14 is attached in any convenient manner to the upper end portionof garment bag I I. preferably by stitching.

Carrying loop I5 is adapted for carrying garment bag II In anover-the-shoulder mode. The garment hanger loop 16 provides the loopfrom which the hook ends of garment hangers I8 are hung. The carryingstrap 14 is designed such that the weight of the garments is primarilycarried by hanger loop 16 rather than by linking piece 21. Thus. thepoint of attachment ofhandle end portion or linking piece 21 to garmentbag II is relieved of tension that would otherwise be caused by theweight of the garments thereby preventing ripping or tearing of thegarment carrier linking piece at the critical juncture.

Refen'ing now to FIG. 3. a hanger lock strap 20 is permanently attachedto one end thereof to carrying strap 14 at a point between the loweredge of hanger loop 16 and the garment bag 11. Lock strap 20 is designedto be removably fastened upon itself for quick detachability andattachability by any convenient means. such as the snap fastening meansshown at 25. so as to form a-closed loop which prevents inad vertentlydetached hangers from slipping into the garment bag 11.

Garment bag 11 may be made of any suitable material such as leather.vinyl. thermoplastic. etc. Similarly. carrying strap 14 may be made ofthe same kinds of materials and may be reinforced with other materialssuch as nylon webbing. etc.. to increase its strength and wearability.Finally. the hanger lock strap 20 may be detachably fastened by otherconvenient means such as. for example. buckle fastening means.

lclaim:

I. An over-the-shoulder garment carrier comprising A. a garment bag; 7

B. a flexible handle comprising an elongated loop and a linking piece.said linking piece being secured to said garment bag;

C. said flexible handle carrying a first loop adapted for carrying thehook end portion of a conventional suit hanger such that the weight ofthe garments is supported primarily by said first loop rather than bysaid linking piece;

said flexible handle additionally carrying a lock strap.

said strap having a first end portion secu ed to said flexible handle ata point between said first loop and said garment bag such that the lockstrap. when formed into a second loop. extends generally at a rightangle to the longitudinal dimension of said flexible handle whereby saidsecond loop prevents the hook end portion of a conventional suit hanger.which inadvertently has become detached from said first loop. fromslipping into said garment bag.- j I 2. An article of manufacture as inclaim I. wherein the lock strap has a second end portion adapted to beremovably fastened to said first end portion.

3. An article of manufacture as in claim I wherein said flexible handleand said first loop are formed from one continuous. elongated member. I

4. An over-the-shoulder garment carrier comprising A. a garment bag; V,

B. a flexible handle comprising an elongated strap having a first endportion secured to'said garment bag. the remaining portion of said strapfolding back upon itself so as to form a major loop and a minor loop.said major loopv adapted to be carried over the shoulder and said minorloop adapted for carrying the hook end portion of a conventional suithanger such that the weight of the garments is supported primarily bysaid minor loop rather than by said end portion of said flexible handle;

c. said flexible handle additionally carrying a lock strap. said lockstrap having one end portion secured to said flexible handle at a pointbetween the leading edge of said minor loop and the point of attachmentof said garment bag to said flexible handle. and a second end portionsuch that when said second end portion is attached to said first endportion. a second loop is formed. said second loop extending generallyat a right angle to the longitudinal dimension of said flexible handle.whereby said second loop prevents the hook end portion of a conventionalsuit hanger from slipping into said gannent bag if said hook end becomesdetached from said first loop. 5. An article of manufacture as in claimI wherein the second end portion of the lock strap is fastened bysnapfastening means.

6. An article of manufacture as in claim 4 wherein the second endportion of the lock strap adapted to be removably fastened to the firstend portion of the lock strap is fastened by buckle-fastening means.

Patent o. 3,612 ,260 Dated October 12 1971 Robert A Brilhart Inventor(s)It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent armthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below;

Column 2, line 63, after "pbrtion" .Eneft q- -adap ted to be r e movcblyfa sfceneld 0 said first end b o rtion COlu IY lh 2 ,5 line 72,; afteirgtrap'fiip siect -adapteci to be Signd and scaled this dajicf- March-1972;. v

.(SEAL) Attest: .4 'EDwARDImFL TcHEmJR'. T QBERT G'QTTSCHKIK" Attcsting'orri car:- l comu'gsioner ;o1'.= Patents

1. An over-the-shoulder garment carrier comprising A. a garment bag; B.a flexible handle comprising an elongated loop and a linking piece, saidlinking piece being secured to said garment bag; C. said flexible handlecarrying a first loop adapted for carrying the hook end portion of aconventional suit hanger such that the weight of the garments issupported primarily by said first loop rather than by said linkingpiece; D. said flexible handle additionally carrying a lock strap, saidstrap having a first end portion secured to said flexible handle at apoint between said first loop and said garment bag such that the lockstrap, when formed into a second loop, extends generally at a rightangle to the longitudinal dimension of said flexible handle whereby saidsecond loop prevents the hook end portion of a conventional suit hanger,which inadvertently has become detached from said first loop, fromslipping into said garment bag.
 2. An article of manufacture as in claim1, wherein the lock strap has a second end portion adapted to beremovably fastened to said first end portion.
 3. An article ofmanufacture as in claim 1 wherein said flexible handle and said firstloop are formed from one continuous, elongated member.
 4. Anover-the-shoulder garment carrier comprising A. a garment bag; B. aflexible handle comprising an elongated strap having a first end portionsecured to said garment bag, the remaining portion of said strap foldingback upon itself so as to form a major loop and a minor loop, said majorloop adapted to be carried over the shoulder and said minor loop adaptedfor carrying the hook end portion of a conventional suit hanger suchthat thE weight of the garments is supported primarily by said minorloop rather than by said end portion of said flexible handle; c. saidflexible handle additionally carrying a lock strap, said lock straphaving one end portion secured to said flexible handle at a pointbetween the leading edge of said minor loop and the point of attachmentof said garment bag to said flexible handle, and a second end portionsuch that when said second end portion is attached to said first endportion, a second loop is formed, said second loop extending generallyat a right angle to the longitudinal dimension of said flexible handle,whereby said second loop prevents the hook end portion of a conventionalsuit hanger from slipping into said garment bag if said hook end becomesdetached from said first loop.
 5. An article of manufacture as in claim1 wherein the second end portion of the lock strap is fastened bysnap-fastening means.
 6. An article of manufacture as in claim 4 whereinthe second end portion of the lock strap adapted to be removablyfastened to the first end portion of the lock strap is fastened bybuckle-fastening means.